Anthony, the NBA's second-leading scorer, missed the game with stiffness and soreness in his right knee. Amar'e Stoudemire had 22 points and J.R. Smith supplied 20 for New York (37-21), which has won seven straight over Detroit, its longest streak against any team. The Knicks have won five of their last six overall while the Pistons (23-40), who were led by Brandon Knight's 17 points, fell for the sixth time in seven games.

The Knicks, who are 4-4 without Anthony this season, had a 48-36 rebounding advantage.

Detroit's leading scorer, center Greg Monroe, also sat out because of a left ankle sprain suffered in practice on Tuesday. Head coach Lawrence Frank missed the game due to a personal matter and top assistant Brian Hill filled in.

The Knicks took command midway through the fourth quarter after giving away their 15-point, first-half advantage during the third quarter.

Led by Jonas Jerebko, the Pistons opened the second half on an 18-4 run to take a 56-48 lead. Jerebko made three consecutive jumpers during that stretch, including a 3-pointer.

Knight extended the lead to 10 at 65-55, with three straight 3-pointers. The lead didn't last long as the Knicks scored the last 10 points of the quarter, including eight from Felton, to tie the game.

The run eventually reached 16 unanswered points when Smith hit a 3-pointer to make it 71-65. Detroit temporarily regained the lead but New York put the game away with another 16-0 outburst. The Knicks regained the lead for good on two Smith 3-pointers and another from Jason Kidd.

The Knicks came into the game averaging 11.9 turnovers, the fewest per game in the league. Without Anthony to create and convert shots, they committed 11 alone in the first quarter and 15 by halftime. Felton had five of them but somehow New York led 44-38 at the break.

Taking advantage of Monroe's absence, Stoudemire delivered 17 points off the bench and helped New York to a 28-15 rebounding advantage. The Pistons gained some late momentum by finishing the half on a 13-4 run.

NOTES: New York hasn't lost a season series to Detroit since 2006-07. The Knicks won the first three meetings this season by an average of 16.7 points. ... Anthony, who has led the Knicks in scoring 43 times this season, is questionable to play against Oklahoma City on Thursday. ... Monroe missed his first game due to injury in his career. He had played in 208 consecutive games. In his absence, the Pistons used just their sixth different lineup this season. ... Pistons reserve forward Charlie Villanueva was also unavailable because of a sore left hamstring. Rookie center Andre Drummond has missed the last 13 games with a stress fracture in his fifth lumbar vertebra. ... Detroit ranks eighth in rebounds per game at 43.2, its highest level since it averaged 43.4 in 2004-05. ... New York's Smith entered the game ranked third among NBA reserves in scoring at 16.1 points per game, behind only the Los Angeles Clippers' Jamal Crawford (17.0) and New Orleans' Ryan Anderson (16.7). ... The Pistons were 9-25 against teams at or over .500 and play five of their next seven games against teams with winning records.